Home Resales Rise as Low End Gets Boost

Washington, DC, May 27, 2009--Home resales rose 2.9% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.68 million in April, according to the National Association of Realtors.

Sales of existing homes have been roughly unchanged for six months.

Sales are rising in areas with the greatest price declines, the same cities that were at the center of the earlier housing bubble.

Most of the sales are taking place in the low-end of the market, said Lawrence Yun, chief economist for the National Association of Realtors.

By contrast, sales of homes priced above $750,000 have collapsed. The real estate group urged more help from the government to prop up the high end by lowering interest rates on jumbo loans.

The high-end has been decimated by the inability of many homeowners to sell their home in order to trade up. Most don't have the collateral to get a loan.

First-time buyers accounted for about 40% of sales in April. Distressed sales - foreclosures and short sales - accounted for about 45% of sales, Yun said.

Sales are down 3.5% in the past year and are down 35% from the peak nearly four years ago.

Inventories of unsold homes on the market rose 8.8% in April to 3.97 million, representing 10.2 months of sales. Inventories typically rise in the spring, Yun said. The inventory data are not seasonally adjusted.

The median sales price fell 15.4% over the past year to $170,200, pushed lower by distressed sales. It's the second largest year-over-year percentage decline on record.

Sales of single-family homes rose 2.5% in April to a 4.18 million annual rate, and are down 2.8% in the past year. Prices of single-family homes dropped 14.9% over the year.

Sales of condos rose 6.4% in April to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 500,000